USAID

Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI)

The Civil Society Advocacy Initiative (CSAI) seeks to support Serbian civil society in its ability to influence public policy, serve as government watchdogs, and conduct sustained advocacy campaigns on a wide variety of reform issues. CSAI nurtures a healthy and vibrant civil society by focusing on the sector’s capacity to successfully advocate at local and national levels, and to secure a legal and regulatory environment that fosters the long-term financial and operational sustainability of NGOs.

Project components include:

• Promoting civil society advocacy through grants, training and technical support to Serbian NGOs to develop institutional capacity and the ability to promote causes of relevance to Serbian citizens.
  
• Strengthening the non-governmental sector by helping NGO coalitions to improve the legal and regulatory framework and operate with maximum leeway in the current environment.

The Media Assistance Program is a four-year activity, launched in September 2008. It helps build sustainability and the professional skills of local and regional broadcast media, and the advocacy and monitoring skills of media-support institutions. The Program also facilitates media partners with the transition to “new” digital interactive media platforms.

Project components include:

• Strengthening the legal and regulatory environment for media, particularly the role of media-support institutions and other organizations in ensuring fair, timely, and transparent implementation of media laws.
• Increasing the managerial and financial capacity of media outlets, particularly key local and regional radio and television stations.
• Enhancing the quality and availability of information important to citizens with a focus on news and program production at the local and regional levels and coverage of reform issues at the national level.
• Helping Serbian media outlets make the transition from traditional delivery platforms (radio, TV, newspaper) to interactive and participatory “new media” platforms, including on-line, mobile and digital broadcasting.

USAID grant to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE Mission to Serbia) is funding a project that aims to increase the capacities of institutions, public officials, and civil society to ensure good governance through improving the legislative framework, enhancing existing public accountability mechanisms, and promoting best practices in public accountability. This is in line with the USAID strategic objectives: efficient, transparent and accountable provision of government services, and checks and balances strengthened.

Project components include:

• Improving the legislative framework in the fields of institutional accountability and public participation.
  
• Developing the capacity of institutions in charge of public accountability.
  
• Promoting best practices in combating corruption and strengthening public participation.
  
• Supporting independent anti-corruption institutions and civil society organizations for activities that seek to improve public accountability and participation mechanisms.

The Political Processes Support program is a five-year ctivity, launched in October 2010, which aims to enhance the ability of key actors, including the government, political parties, parliament, and civil society, to develop institutional capacities and strengthen relations between institutions within the political environment. Political reforms will increase the government’s accountability and public faith in democracy. Continued work with democratic parties will promote internal transparency, responsiveness to constituencies and participation of women and minorities in political processes.

Project components include:

• Encouraging greater transparency and inclusiveness of the electoral reform process, and promoting compliance with subsequent legislation;
  
• Strengthening the representative, legislative, and oversight functions of elected officials in cooperation with civil society;
  
• Enhancing the participation of youth, women, minorities, and marginalized populations in the political process;
  
• Assisting small, regional, and minority political parties in crafting responsive, issue-based campaigns, and assisting all parties in devising strategies in response to Serbia’s election framework and electoral conditions;
  
• Building a professional and effective policy development community;
  
• Enhancing political stakeholders’ understanding of political and campaign finance regulations;
  
• Creating the framework for improved accuracy of the national voter registry.

• Assists the new High Judicial Council establish its own budget and long term planning office so Serbia’s judges can assume more control over their own affairs, track the income and expenses of courts more closely, boost their efficiency and make court operations more transparent and responsive to the needs of court users
• Works with a wide range of courts and officials to establish a training and career track for and placement of professional court administrators who can assist with long-term improvement of court operations.
• Helps reduce backlogs and court processing times in Serbia’s non-commercial, trial-level courts.

• Assists Members and Assembly staff establish its own budget and long-term planning systems, so parliament can be more responsive to the needs of Serbia’s citizens.
• Helps Assembly operations become more transparent.
• Provides advice on specific legislation pending before the Assembly.